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How is Lima Pronounced?

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How is Lima Pronounced?
Posted by Southgate 2 on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 6:31 AM

Never having heard Lima pronounced in connection with the great builder of Super Power steam, and early diesel locomotives, I always assumed it was pronounced Lee-ma. But then I saw a video, someone called it LY-ma. like lima beans. Anyone know for sure? Dan

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Posted by NorthBrit on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 6:37 AM

In the UK it is pronounced Leema.

David

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Posted by richhotrain on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 6:54 AM

The locals in Lima Ohio pronounce it LIE-MUH.

Rich

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Posted by SeeYou190 on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 8:41 AM

I pronounced it like Lee-Muh, because that is what my father from the Midwest laught me. Then I met several people actually from that part of Ohio that informed me it is correctly pronounced Lie-Muh.

I went to Lima, Ohio's official website. They have a lot of FAQs, but pronunciation is not included.

https://www.cityhall.lima.oh.us/Faq.aspx

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Posted by richhotrain on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 8:47 AM

SeeYou190

I went to Lima, Ohio's official website. They have 27 FAQs, but pronounciation is not included. 

There are YouTube videos where the locals pronounce it as LIE-MUH.

Rich

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Posted by NorthBrit on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 9:01 AM

Then there is Hornby who own Lima  and the Italians who started the Company. They say Leema. 

A case of depending where you are.Laugh

 

David

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Posted by cv_acr on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 9:18 AM

NorthBrit

Then there is Hornby who own Lima  and the Italians who started the Company. They say Leema. 

A case of depending where you are.Laugh

Wrong Lima David.

He's not talking about the European model maker.

He's talking about the North American builder of real-life steam engines in the first half of the 20th century.

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Posted by wjstix on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 9:45 AM

"Lie-muh" is in Ohio.

"Lee-muh" is in Peru.

Kinda like how the Montevideo in South America is "mon-tah-vah-day-oh" but the Montevideo in Minnesota is "mon-tah-vid-e-oh".

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Posted by Overmod on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 9:48 AM

Let's make this simple.  The Lima bean is from that part of Ohio.  It is not from Peru.  Do the British pronounce this Leema beans?

Some of these names can be bad faux-amis.  Take Simon Bolivar, for example.  In the best Callus, Maine tradition, Tennesseeans pronounce the name of their town "BAH-lu-ver" which is amusing until you realize how close it is to the way he actually pronounced his name.  Similar to Sam Houston, who came from the East where the New Yorkers still know how to pronounce his name...

(If it is any consolation, I pronounced the name of the locomotive works Lee-ma until I was well into my twenties -- and if it helps, it was a native Spanish speaker, Livio Dante Porta, who set me straight...)

Now we can take up the issue of how many of us know how to pronounce Boxpok... Whistling

 

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Posted by NorthBrit on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 10:16 AM

Oops - Sign

David

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Posted by snjroy on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 11:44 AM

We can assume that Lima Machine Works takes its name from Lima Ohio, where the original main shop was located. According to Wikipedia:

The name "Lima" was reputedly chosen in a nod to the Peruvian capital which, during the 1800s, was a major source of quinine, an anti-malaria drug for which there had been a demand in the region, an area known as the Great Black Swamp.

According to the Simple English Wikipedia:

Lima is a city in Allen CountyOhioUnited States. (...) Lima was founded in 1831 as a county seat which was mandated by the Ohio legislature. It got its name from Patrick G. Goode, who was a judge. He insisted on the Spanish pronunciation "Lee-mah" after the capital city of Peru, but the pronunciation — "Lye-mah" — won.

Simon

 

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Posted by tstage on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 11:53 AM

As a resident of OH for 40+ years now, the town of Lima is pronounced "LYE-muh".  And other lesser known but interesting OH towns and pronouciations:

  • Wooster..."WUH-ster"
  • Milan..."MY-lan"
  • Bellefontaine..."BELL-fown-tuhn" (Div. headquarters of NYC's "Big Four")
  • Maumee..."MAH-mee"
  • Gallipolis..."Gal-ih-POLICE"
  • Russia..."ROO-shee"
  • Versailles..."Ver-SALES"

Tom

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Posted by snjroy on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 12:26 PM

Roo-shee?  Sounds like the French pronounciation of Russia (Russie in French). I believe there were French-speaking settlers back then. It's pretty amazing that they kept that pronounciation for all these years, if my interpretation is correct. 

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Posted by dehusman on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 12:40 PM

Refugio is pronounced Refurrio in Texas.  The Boll-la-ver peninsula is where hurricanes come ashore in Texas.  And the city in Texas is named for the fellow Sam Hew-ston, and they will fight you over the pronunciation.

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Posted by tstage on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 12:56 PM

snjroy
I believe there were French-speaking settlers back then. It's pretty amazing that they kept that pronounciation for all these years, if my interpretation is correct. 

Simon

You are correct, Simon.  According to Wiki, the first settlers in that area were French-speaking Swiss.

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Posted by wjstix on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 1:22 PM

Of course in Russian, Russian is pronounced "Roo-ski".

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Posted by Overmod on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 1:29 PM

dehusman
And the city in Texas is named for the fellow Sam Hew-ston, and they will fight you over the pronunciation.

Texans fight over other stupid wrong things too.  You have to ask them something like 'if everything is bigger in Texas, is it true that Texas has the largest midgets' to shut them up sometimes. Wink

Look where that fellow Sam "Hewston" came from and you'll see where the right of it is.  It's little different from those folks who established Versailles, Kentucky ... although they are correct in so pronouncing the name of the '70s Lincoln competition to the original Seville Nova... Laugh

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Posted by selector on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 4:39 PM

I have heard Boxpok pronounced both ways by people who narrated films back in the 50's and 60's.  I think there must be a 'correct' way, but you'll have arguments.

And don't axe me which one I use...I'm not tellin'. 

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Posted by SeeYou190 on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 6:24 PM

Albany, New York: All Buh Knee

Albany, Georgia: Al Bin Ee

Or... Just be like Florida, and name your cities things like Apalachicola, Kissimmee, Okahumpka, Steinhatchee, Immokallee, Weewahitchka, etc., and laugh at the tourists trying to pronounce them.

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Posted by Enzoamps on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 8:27 PM

Here in Michigan we have the small town of Pompeii, which is pronounced POM-pee-EYE.  For that matter, just across town from me is Delhi Township, of course pronounced DELL-HIGH.

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Posted by gmpullman on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 8:38 PM

One I frequently get a chuckle about is the Pennsylvania Dutch area near Lancaster.

You won't see very many people in wooden shoes there. These are German descendents, i.e. The Pennsylvania Dutch (Pennsilfaanisch-Deitsch)

Now, is it LAN-Caster or LANK-ister? (I prefer the former)

Cheers, Ed

 

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Posted by ATLANTIC CENTRAL on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 8:47 PM

SeeYou190

Albany, New York: All Buh Knee

Albany, Georgia: Al Bin Ee

Or... Just be like Florida, and name your cities things like Apalachicola, Kissimmee, Okahumpka, Steinhatchee, Immokallee, Weewahitchka, etc., and laugh at the tourists trying to pronounce them.

-Kevin

 

You left out Okeechobee......

Sheldon

    

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Posted by zugmann on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 8:53 PM

gmpullman
Now, is it LAN-Caster or LANK-ister? (I prefer the former)

You may prefer the former, but it's wrong. 

  

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Posted by Metro Red Line on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 9:09 PM

Overmod

 Similar to Sam Houston, who came from the East where the New Yorkers still know how to pronounce his name...

 

Correction: Sam Houston may have been from Virginia, but he himself pronounced his surname, "Hyoo-ston." Houston Street in NYC was actually named after someone else - William Houstoun (pronounced, "how-ston"), a lawyer and member of the Continental Congress.

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Posted by ATLANTIC CENTRAL on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 9:09 PM

gmpullman

One I frequently get a chuckle about is the Pennsylvania Dutch area near Lancaster.

You won't see very many people in wooden shoes there. These are German descendents, i.e. The Pennsylvania Dutch (Pennsilfaanisch-Deitsch)

Now, is it LAN-Caster or LANK-ister? (I prefer the former)

Cheers, Ed

 

 

Well, I live pretty close to there, I can be at the Strasburg Rail Road in less than an hour, and in Lancaster City in an hour and 20 minutes.

We deal with the PA Dutch (Amish) all the time, some of them built my deck 25 years ago. And while they all speak good English with their own unique accent, they also speak a version of German that is somewhat frozen in time from about 1720.

They don't own or drive cars, but they will pay the "English" to drive them to a construction job and just sit there all day while they work.

The people in Lancaster PA, and in this region, mostly say LANK-ister.

Sheldon

    

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Posted by tstage on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 9:49 PM

ATLANTIC CENTRAL
SeeYou190

Albany, New York: All Buh Knee

Albany, Georgia: Al Bin Ee

Or... Just be like Florida, and name your cities things like Apalachicola, Kissimmee, Okahumpka, Steinhatchee, Immokallee, Weewahitchka, etc., and laugh at the tourists trying to pronounce them.

-Kevin

You left out Okeechobee......

Sheldon

And Ichetucknee...

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Posted by SeeYou190 on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 9:52 PM

tstage

 

 
ATLANTIC CENTRAL
SeeYou190

Albany, New York: All Buh Knee

Albany, Georgia: Al Bin Ee

Or... Just be like Florida, and name your cities things like Apalachicola, Kissimmee, Okahumpka, Steinhatchee, Immokallee, Weewahitchka, etc., and laugh at the tourists trying to pronounce them.

-Kevin

You left out Okeechobee......

Sheldon

 

And Ichetucknee...

 

Well, I could not make an exhaustive list... we have hundreds of cities with Native American names that are difficult for tourists to pronounce.

-Kevin

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Posted by Overmod on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 10:40 PM

selector
I think there must be a 'correct' way, but you'll have arguments.

There is only one way, because the tradename is derived from 'box spoke'.  'Twould make no sense to say 'pock' except if you did not know the derivation...

There are plenty of people who cannot spell 'Walschaerts' either -- some of whom attempted to game the system by proposing that we simply term it 'Walschaert' for simplicity.  Like the Post Office arbitrarily simplifying 'Pittsburgh' for a few years, or later requiring weird address syntax to suit their early OCR systems.  

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Posted by ATLANTIC CENTRAL on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 10:58 PM

SeeYou190

 

 
tstage

 

 
ATLANTIC CENTRAL
SeeYou190

Albany, New York: All Buh Knee

Albany, Georgia: Al Bin Ee

Or... Just be like Florida, and name your cities things like Apalachicola, Kissimmee, Okahumpka, Steinhatchee, Immokallee, Weewahitchka, etc., and laugh at the tourists trying to pronounce them.

-Kevin

You left out Okeechobee......

Sheldon

 

And Ichetucknee...

 

 

 

Well, I could not make an exhaustive list... we have hundreds of cities with Native American names that are difficult for tourists to pronounce.

-Kevin

 

I only mentioned Okeechobee because my mother lives there........

Sheldon

    

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Posted by rrinker on Wednesday, November 11, 2020 8:03 AM

Overmod

 

 
dehusman
And the city in Texas is named for the fellow Sam Hew-ston, and they will fight you over the pronunciation.

 

Texans fight over other stupid wrong things too.  You have to ask them something like 'if everything is bigger in Texas, is it true that Texas has the largest midgets' to shut them up sometimes. Wink

 

Look where that fellow Sam "Hewston" came from and you'll see where the right of it is.  It's little different from those folks who established Versailles, Kentucky ... although they are correct in so pronouncing the name of the '70s Lincoln competition to the original Seville Nova... Laugh

 

 Just never ask a New Yorker where "hew-ston" street is.

And some of those clever sounding neighborhoods? SoHo just means SOuth of HOuston. 

                                     --Randy

 


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